One New HorizonChapter 1

"Thank God It's Friday" never made so much sense before. This was my last day as a salaried employee. I had scrimped and saved for the last five years and I finally had the stake I needed to implement my plan. I had come up with a method of investing that should make me very wealthy within just a few years. The problem was that, in order to do it, I had needed at least $200,000 to start. I had denied myself a lot in order to save that much. I even sold the house that I had inherited from my grandparents and lived in a small efficiency apartment to save money.

Now I was ready to start to implement my plan and I would need more time than working a job would allow me to use. My job had paid me very well, but had left me unfulfilled otherwise. In other words, I had not found anyone to date in the company or in the area. I might have changed my plans if I had, but that had not happened.

A little history would be in order here.

My name is Alex Andrews. I am 28 years old and I am very much alone. My mother left me with my Grandparents when I was only a few months old and disappeared, never to be heard from again. Mom did not tell her folks who my father was, and from the way Grandma talked about the life their daughter had been living, she may not have known who he was, either.

My Grandparents raised me and provided for me as was needed, except for one area. They saw me as an obligation incurred by how badly they had raised my mother. They never once said that they loved me, and in fact only talked to me when necessary. I cannot remember ever having a conversation with either Grandparent that did not involve my obligations and responsibilities. They apparently thought that they had been too lenient with their daughter, and did not want to repeat that mistake with me.

They died while I was a senior in high school, and I did not shed a tear. I was so used to being independent by then that the only change in my lifestyle was to move upstairs from the basement to the larger, warmer, bedroom.

I had very few friends in school and had only dated twice after I bought a car. Going to the local community college meant that I was with most of the same people I had gone to school with my whole life, and there were very few opportunities to date even then, as I had to work two jobs in order to afford school. My Grandparents had not left much insurance.

My first year in college I took an economics course. The professor wanted us to plot trends in the stock and commodities markets. I aced the course, but I also noticed that many of the trends we had all been tracking had no one reason or cause. This didn't set well with me and I started looking further and further afield to try to give the numbers meaning. Numbers had always been my way to get away from the pain people caused me. Numbers had meaning, all numbers. I started looking at the political climate, and global climate, and insect deprivations, and bank policies, and numerous other items, until a pattern began to emerge. As an experiment, I invested money in the markets, on paper only. I started with an arbitrary fifty thousand dollars, and soon discovered that that was not enough. I doubled the amount, and started over. I again saw that this was not enough, so I doubled it again. Now I got the response I had anticipated. I was making money, in theory, and continued to make money at a ridiculous rate. I continued the experiment through the rest of my schooling and by the end I had a staggering amount of money. I saw some problems in my methods. For one, I was operating in a vacuum, and the markets were not. Some of the investments I had made would have caused their own reactions on the market had they been real, some for good, and some for bad. I tried to compensate for these actions, but saw that it was not possible. The market would have been forever changed by my actions and since it had not, my final figures were flawed. Even with this, it was very obvious that I would have accumulated a large amount of money had I been working the experiment for real. I determined that I would have to build a nest egg and try it out in true life.

My last year in school I had interned with a large manufacturing concern, and after graduation, I was able to get a job with them. I had just left that job. During the years I worked there, I had tried to get dates, but for some reason the women were not receptive to me. I had to assume that I was unattractive in some way when woman after woman turned me down, and three years ago, I hatched this scheme to correct my loneliness. By watching the world at large I had determined that rich men were more attractive to women, so now that I had my grubstake, I would become rich.

Now I am starting to implement my plan, and I am not so sure that I want to be with a woman who sees me as a paycheck. What I want is love and affection, and a mercenary b#$%h is not going to give me this. I think I need to revise my end goals a bit. Since any woman I get will be mainly interested in my money, why not just hire her? I can just pay a woman to marry me, and then get her pregnant with as many children as possible. I can set up a contract for her for 5 years. At the end of the contract, she would leave and I could raise the children myself. As long as I show the kids that I care, they would love me. They would show me the affection that I had never had and I could give the same to them. This was my greatest desire. The money would be a means to an end, not an end in itself. It may not play out as I plan, but this is the only means I can see to achieve my goal, a family.

Six years later in a suite at The Venetian, Las Vegas:

I sat in an armchair as Ms. Hudson led the 5 women into my suite. Once they were all seated, I began.

"Hello ladies, I am Alex Andrews, and as your agents have told you, I have a job that I am recruiting for. The lady who let you in is Ms. Hudson, and she represents the law firm I have retained. She is here to see that everything is legal and above board.

"I have an unusual opportunity for one of you. To cut to the chase, I will pay one of you one million dollars a year to marry me. The contract will be for the period of five years, at which point we will divorce and separate. What you do after that is up to you. Are there any questions?"

The black haired woman with the very fair complexion on the far end of the sofa spoke up.

"What's the catch? That is far too easy for that kind of money. It can't be the sex; you could hire a whole bordello for that price."

"One catch is that you have to have sex with me. I know that it cannot be very appetizing to such beautiful women as you all are. On the flip side of that, since I am totally inexperienced where women are concerned, you can train me to do what you like, and I will do my best to please you."

The redhead next to her looked up at that. "Do you mean that you are a virgin? One of the most eligible bachelors in Vegas and you are a virgin? Why?"

"I haven't had much luck with women, for obvious reasons, and more recently I have not had the time to try, even if I had the will to. I came up with this plan as the only alternative to prostitutes. I had each of you investigated to see that you are decent people with no present commitments. I don't expect affection from you, but I hope that we can at least be friends. Taking care of the requirements will probably be awkward, but we can keep the most onerous tasks minimal."

"What kind of conditions would you require? You intimated that this would be done with a contract, well what clauses would be in it?" The dirty blonde in the love seat to my right asked this.

"Okay, you would be required to undergo a very extensive exam to determine that you are healthy. You would also have to forgo any contraceptive measures such as an IUD or the pill. You would not be allowed to have sexual contact with any man but me. Your female lover would be alright, Ms Johnson," I nodded to the black haired girl, "as long as she undergoes the same exam you do. You will also receive a million dollar bonus for every child you deliver. The final catch, and probably the biggest, is that when you leave at the end of the contract, the children would stay. The whole concept of this plan is to gain a family. I don't want to adopt someone else's kids; I want to raise my own. The reason for using such beautiful women as you are is so that the children would gain some of your beauty to counteract my looks."

The statuesque platinum blonde on the love seat stood up. "There is no way I could have children and leave them with a man who thinks that he can buy them. The money sounds great, but I couldn't do that."

"I'm sorry that you feel that way, but I understand. Ms Hudson will pay you for coming to the meeting. All I ask is that you sign a non-disclosure clause to say nothing about this until after the contract is complete. Does anyone else wish to leave?"

"Not right now, but I am going to have to think this over very carefully before I do anything permanent." The dirty blonde next to me said.

"That is understandable. Before we go any further, let me tell you what I know about each of you, and you can fill in the blanks. Over on the far side of the sofa is Brenda Johnson. She and her roommate, Diane, have been lovers for the last two years, and they both work at the "Valley Girls", dancing. They have not been exclusive in their relationship, but they have been selective. They have each lost jobs because they refused to sleep with the manager.

"Next to her on the sofa is Sophia Morgan. She is a 23-year-old graduate of UNLV, with a degree in business management. She is attempting to earn enough money to start a business, and she is not prostituting because she is afraid of the repercussions if it is discovered later. She has been staying away from men for the most part, because most of the ones she meets in this business are trumped up bores. Her words, not mine. She is currently serving drinks at "Westworld".

"The blonde next to Sophia is Janice Atwaller. She is a currently unemployed stripper. She is also currently in-between boyfriends. Her last beau couldn't get permission from his wife to continue the affair. She is considering breast augmentation surgery in order to get better paying jobs, the customers at her last place of employment kept telling her to put it back on. I must say that I heartily disagree with them; I like you just the way you are. Larger jugs would look out of place on your small frame.

"The last one is Inez Brumfeld. She is 24, and has a darling little 4-year-old daughter named Jessica. Her boyfriend abandoned her when they came here to get married. They checked in at the hotel, and he went to try gambling for the first time. He lost everything they had, and $50,000 dollars they didn't have. He then disappeared, and she has been working for the past five years at Dockside Dolls trying to get rid of his debt. She didn't even get a wedding, just the bills and a baby. My detectives tracked down her ex-boyfriend. He actually paid off 90% of the debt before he was killed last year. Your boss has been cheating you, my dear. I'm so glad that you have resisted going to bed with him to pay the false charges and interest. No matter how this works out, I will help you take care of that asshole.

"You will each receive $5,000 for coming to this meeting. If you are willing to continue, I will take each of you out on a few dates to try to determine whom I will marry. I'll be attempting to find the woman I can be most comfortable with. You will be paid $10,000 for each date. I will start with Miss Johnson on Friday night after I get the results of the medical exam. If there is anyplace you would like to go to in particular, let me know beforehand. Otherwise, I will choose a destination."

"I don't know of anyplace, but I will think about it, Mr. Andrews."

"Okay Ms. Johnson, but please call me Alex. Would you like to bring your roommate along? I would like to meet her, especially if she would be coming with you were we to marry. You don't have to, but she might have fun and you would probably be more at ease with her there."

"Diane would love to go, but is she going to have to sleep with you if she comes along?"

"No, and you do not either. None of you are required to have sex with me on these dates. That is not a part of the deal. I can, and will, wait until my wedding night to have sex.

"I would like to thank you ladies for meeting me like this, and listening to my proposal. Be sure to collect your payment, and sign the non-disclosure agreement on your way out. Ms. Hudson will also give you a paper with the address of a medical clinic. You need to be there on Monday. There is also a sheet to fill out on your family and medical history. Miss Johnson, if you are going to continue to have relations with your friend, then she needs to go to the clinic as well. You all need to come back Thursday night to get the results of the exam and further instructions."

Thursday evening came and I had to tell one of the women that she had failed the exam. Sophia had contracted a social disease from her last boyfriend and hadn't known it. After she was gone, I talked to the others, including Brenda's partner Diane Winslow.

"All right ladies, this is what I have planned. On the floor below us are three luxury suites that I have reserved for you to stay in for the time being. You will all have a credit account for room service or dining in the hotel restaurant. Every time we go out on a date, you will receive $10,000. This money is yours no matter whom I choose to marry. I figure two or three dates will be enough. Does anyone have a question?"

"What about work? I'm supposed to dance tonight and my boss is getting very pushy."

"Inez, you need to quit that job. My lawyers are talking to your boss about paying you back for all the money he has gypped you out of. They are also talking to the club owners about him and he may not have a job soon himself. If you are not chosen, I will make sure you have a job you can take care of your daughter with, without having to put up with assholes like him. If you want to dance, there are reputable clubs you can work at. The same goes for you other three. When I leave, I hope that you all will be better off. Is there any thing else?"

"You say that we have to live here for a while. Why is that, and what about my daughter?"

"There are a couple of reasons for you to stay here. One is for easy access. I don't have to send a limo to get you for a date; I just call your suite. There is also the security factor. I'm afraid that someone will try to use you to get to me, and my security people can take care of you here. You can go get your daughter as soon as we are done, I will have a limo and driver available to you. There will be certified sitters available for when we go on a date. Think of it as a paid vacation, and your daughter will be fine."

Janice spoke up then, "if we stay here. then you can keep us away from other men. Isn't that one of the main reasons?"

"I will admit that that is one of the reasons. I don't have any reason to expect any loyalty out of you, and I have to protect my interests. Have you all stopped your birth control?"

When they all replied in the affirmative I went on, "and that is another reason. Until you are protected again, you should stay away from men. I am sorry for the inconvenience, but this is, after all, why I have started this. Have a good evening and I will see you tomorrow night, Ms Johnson."

After a good show Friday night, I was sitting at a booth in a quiet bar with two lovely women.

"This has been the best night of my life, girls. Thank you for treating me so well, and being kind enough to listen to my silly talk. I especially thank you, Diane. You have no need to be nice to me; nothing you do will reflect on Brenda. I will judge her only upon herself, not on you. This has been the best date ever, thanks to you two."

"There is no need to thank us Alex. We had fun and have enjoyed your company. No matter what you might think, you are not ugly and you are a nice guy, there should have been a lot of girls who would go out with you. I know that this is a business proposition and I appreciate that we are being paid, but I would be willing to do it again. You are a fun date, Alex."

"Thank you Brenda, but there is no need. I am happy to pay for the company of two such lovely ladies."

The next night I took Janice out, and Inez the next. Both of them were a lot of fun to be with as well.

Las Vegas is date city. There are hundreds of places to take a girl, and over the next three weeks, I tried out quite a few of them.

All the girls were fun to date, but I was definitely getting closer to a decision. After a date with Brenda and Diane, they wanted to ask me a question.

"How would you like two for the price of one, Alex? Diane and I would both share your bed and get pregnant. All of the children I bear would be yours, and the ones Diane has would be ours. We have been talking about adopting children, but we have problems with the adoption system. This way we all win."

"That is a hell of a proposal. I probably should think about it, but at this point, I would say no. I wouldn't want to sire children I wouldn't be taking care of. It's a very attractive offer though."

"It is something to think about when you make your choice. Would you like to try us both out tonight?"

"I don't know how I can say this without insulting you, but no. As much as I would like to make love to the both of you, I have to turn you down. I haven't chosen the woman yet; but it probably won't be you, Brenda."

"Then I suppose I will have to ask Inez if we can borrow you."

"What do you mean, ask Inez? Why do you think that I have chosen her? I haven't said anything to anyone."

"Because she was our competition. Janice is not smart enough to keep your interest, and we could see how you react to Jessica. Your heart is on your face when you look at that little girl. We can see just from that what kind of a father you will be."

"Why would you want to do that? It's obvious that Inez is the perfect fit for you. She is beautiful, and much smarter than her upbringing should allow. She would make a fantastic companion for you, and you already know that she makes beautiful children. Why would you choose anyone else?"

"Because she is too right. I'm already falling for her, and when she leaves at the end of the contract I will be devastated. I would probably not be hurt too bad with Janice, or even you, but Inez would kill me."

"You can't let that stop you, Alex. She is meant for you and you for her. What happens in five years is not written in stone and can change. Inez needs someone to care for her and treat her like the beautiful woman she is, not as a repository for sperm. If you treat her the way you have us she will love you, I guarantee it."

"There is no way that a woman as great as Inez would be interested in me. I can buy a wife, but not a lover."

Diane spoke up then, "no, you can't buy a lover, but you can make one."

It was Thursday night, and I had 4 of the candidates in my suite again, along with Brenda's partner Diane. I did not invite the tall blonde who had walked out the first night. I had actually been amazed that 4 out of 5 had remained after I gave them the options on the deal.

"Hello ladies, I am glad that you were all able to be here again. I have some news for you, and hopefully you will see it as being good."

"I have made my choice; and if she will accept me I choose Inez."

Inez looked over at me and smiled. "I would be happy to marry you, Alex, even if you have the romantic soul of a gnu."

"Should I have been on my knee?"

"That would have been nice. I can understand why you didn't, but it would have been nice. When did you have in mind?"

"We'll have to work on that together. Sorry about the knee thing, but I wasn't sure if you would want that, what with the contract and all. Did you want anyone to be there at the wedding?"

"I would like for my mother to be there, but we can talk about this later. Why did you ask all of us here? You could have just told me. Why are the others here?"

"Well, I wanted them to know which of you I had chosen, and I have a different proposition for them. I told you that I would take care of that sleaze of a boss you had. Well, in order to do that I had to buy a controlling interest in the club. I told the owners that I could make it more profitable with a change of management. The management I had in mind is in here. How would you ladies like to be my management team?"

"What do you mean, management team? We have never managed anything."

"Let me tell you what I have in mind and you tell me whether or not you can do it, Brenda. The place is not doing well, and I want you to make it good. I have talked to a few of the girls working at Dockside Dolls, and to some of those who quit, and I think that another business model would do much better than the present one. It seems to me that the women working at a club would do much better with proper encouragement instead of intimidation and threats. Sophia will take care of the books and be in charge of turning a profit. Brenda and Diane will run the day-to-day business, scheduling help and talent and organizing special events and such. Janice will be the talent controller. She will be the one that talks to the women and keeps them happy. All four of you will have to work together to get the job done. I think that this approach will have benefits and make the club very profitable. What do you think, can you do it?"

All five women were looking at me as if I had two heads. Their mouths were hanging open and their eyes were open very wide. Sophia was the first to recover.

"What do you mean, in charge of profits?"

"I mean that you are going to tell Brenda and Diane how much they can spend on goods and services and how much they should charge customers. They will figure the actual amounts, but you will be the one with the overall view. Getting the place set up will be expensive, but I am footing the bill for that. You get to pay me back from the profits, which will be one of the expenses. The law says that I have to charge interest for the set-up loan, but not how much, and I don't want much."

"While you are thinking about this, let's go on over to the club and see what I have gotten us into. Ms Hudson has a check for each of you, and you will have to see her for the paperwork if you decide to take me up on my offer."

I led the dazed women out of the suite and down to the limo waiting in the garage. The drive to Dockside Dolls was about 20 minutes, and anything said during the ride was too low for me to catch. Inez sat next to me with both of her hands clasping my right arm. It was pitiful just how good that felt.

We stopped in front of what looked to be a large ranch style home with a central entrance and two wings stretching out to each side and forward at a slight angle giving the impression of a shallow courtyard. The large neon sign overhead was tacky, and had a few areas burned out. This was obviously one of the first things that would have to be changed.

As we entered the place the first impressions to hit me were the thick layer of smoke hanging in the air at face level, and the incredibly loud noise. There were two bad stereos competing for attention, one from each wing, and we could not hear the hostess trying to get our cover charge. Even in the very dim lighting, the girl recognized Inez and ran over to her for a hug.

"Inez, I'm so glad to see you. There have been some wild rumors running around about you, where have you been?" The girl was screaming at Inez in order to be heard.

I leaned over close and shouted at her. "Miss, would you please get them to turn the music down? I am the new owner and I need to talk to everyone."

The look she gave me was of the deer in the headlights variety, and then she ran through the doorway to the right. A few moments later the music dropped to about half strength. It was still loud, but workable.

The girl came running back with several other women behind her. "Is that okay?"

"Yes, that will be fine for now. Who is in charge tonight?"

"When the previous owners fired Johnny, they left Joe the bartender in charge."

"Would you get him for me, please?"

The girl took off toward the left doorway only to run into a big black man coming out.

"What the f$%k is going on, Julie? Why did you shut the music down? You better get that shit back up b#$%h before I bend you over the bar and sell your ass for quarters."

I stepped up to him, "I told her to turn it down. The music was too loud to even talk in here."

"And just who the f$%k do you think you are? You don't need to talk in here, just watch the sluts and get drunk." He looked to my left and saw Inez then. "What in hell are you doing here, slut? You are f$%king fired and Johnny says he is going to get the rest of the money you owe out of your stuck-up goddamn pussy."

I stepped between him and Inez and yelled at him. "I am the new owner of this dump and you are fired. Get the hell out of here, and if you have harmed any of the women working here you will be arrested. If you have a guilty conscience you might want to get far away before I talk to them."

The guy stood there with his mouth open for a moment; but when he looked like he was going to try to hit me my driver stepped to the side and drew a gun. He was a part of my security team. Joe saw that, turned around and ran away.

I turned to the driver, "follow him and make sure he leaves without taking any money or doing any damage." As he left, I looked at the young girl, Julie, and told her. "I think we need some time to do some thinking here. Please tell the patrons on the premises that the club is closed till further notice, and then shut down the music and assemble the dancers and staff so we can talk to them."

It took a while to clear the building. I had Julie refund all the entry fees and we had to call a cab for a couple of very drunk guys, but 45 minutes later all the staff was assembled at the bar looking at my group.

"Just a couple more things before we begin, people. Could we please open some windows and use some fans to clear out all of this smoke, and how about some lights so we can see what we are doing?"

When this was done, there were some very strange revelations. The walls of the club were a very ugly shade of orange with so many stains from tobacco smoke and other unknown substances that it was hard to look at them. Half of the lighting fixtures did not work and a few light bulbs were hanging from bare wires. There were cigarette butts everywhere and the bar and floor could both use a very thorough cleaning. There were some pictures on the walls, but the stains were on them as much as the walls and it was unlikely that any were recoverable, not that we would want to. The tables and chairs in the main area were all mismatches. It was clear that this place was going to need a major makeover. This is what I get for buying based on emotion and not logic.

"Ok people. As you may have heard, I am the new owner. My name is Alex Andrews, and this place has been going downhill without brakes for quite some time now. I intend for that to stop. The problem is not with you folks who have been working here but with the management. They have driven the club into the ground, it is obvious that they didn't spend shit to keep the structure up and I shudder to see what we will find during the teardown. For the next few weeks we are going to gut this place and start over."

"I know you are all asking yourselves, what about me? What about my job? Well your jobs are safe and you will continue to get paid during the changeover. I know that much of your wages are from tips, and I will make that up as best I can. For now I would like you to meet my management team."

I stepped over behind Brenda and Diane and placed a hand on each of their shoulders.

"These two ladies are Brenda Johnson and Diane Winslow. They are going to be in charge of the day-to-day business. They will be setting up special events and hiring new help, and just in general running the place. That is way too much work for one person, so I hired two. I know that some of you may have ideas of things that you think might work better than what was being done, and I want you to give them to these two. Ideas that get used are worth bonuses."

I stepped over to Sophia and gave the redhead a hug.

"This is Sophia Morgan. She is our numbers person; she controls the bottom line and has final say on all financial transactions. I can only hope to have her services for a short time before she goes out on her own, but hopefully she will stay long enough to get us solvent."

I then stepped over to Janice and pushed her forward.

"This is Janice Atwaller. She is in charge of Talent. You dancers can consider her your union rep or den mother or whatever makes you feel good. Any complaints or interactions you have with the others goes through her. Some of you may know her and know that she has been a dancer and understands where you are coming from. The downside of that is that she knows when you are bullshitting and won't take it. I have a lot of faith in her and I know that you will all love her."

I then went back to the side of Inez and took her hand.

"I'm sure that most of you know Inez. She has consented tonight to be Mrs. Andrews and here is the engagement ring she is getting." Saying this I reached into my coat pocket and took out the blue box in there. I took the ring out of the box and dropped to one knee on the dirty floor in front of Inez. I recaptured her hand and I drew it up in front of my face.

"Inez Brumfeld, I know that you have already acquiesced to marry me, and this is to show you how much that means to me." I then placed the $25,000 ring on her finger and watched her face light up like a Christmas tree.

I was shoved aside as all the women in the place tried to hug Inez at once and get a good look at her ring. I found myself standing at the end of the bar near a bartender and a large man who was obviously the bouncer.

The bartender looked over at me and said, "Well, you sure opened a can of worms there. We won't get anything reasonable out of any of them for a while now. Would you like something to drink?"

"Sure, I'll take a brandy Manhattan with Hennessy. Do you guys have any questions for me? As long as we have a little time alone I would like to address any issues you have with the new setup. You guys are considered talent and will need to work through Janice. Will that cause a problem?"

"What do you mean, talent? I'm just a bouncer, no talent involved there."

"And your name is?"

"Bob, Bob Kaniewski."(pronounced Kanesky)

"Well, Bob, it takes skill and talent to do your job well. I need people who want to work for me and do the job right, not just hulking bullies. I don't know your background and skills, but if you need some additional training or help, you talk to Janice and it will happen. I would think that membership in a good gym or fitness center would be helpful, and the company will pay for it. Martial arts classes will also be covered, as well as health care. You can be getting these things set up while the club is closed for renovation." I turned back to the bartender. "How about you, do you have any special needs?"

"I'm Charles, not Chuck, Charles. I don't have any specific needs except that you will need to change the bar stock completely. Johnny and Joe have been cutting the liquor using cheap Everclear, and it is all corrupt. They wanted to get guys drunk quicker 'cause drunks spend more. Now I got a question; why are you doing this? I've got a pretty good idea of how much you had to pay for the controlling interest in this place, and you won't make it back any time soon, unless those girls can pull off a miracle."

"Well, Charles, I did it for Inez. Johnny was taking advantage of her and I wanted to get him gone, and this was the only way I could do it. I also figure that when Inez gets tired of me she can come back here for something to do. I'm giving her the club as a wedding present."

"Hey Bud, don't think like that. I haven't been a bartender for 15 years without learning a few basic facts about marriage. If you go into the marriage with the attitude that it is only temporary, then it probably will be. You need to have the drive to keep her interested in you, and always think of her first."

"That's okay, Charles, I know myself well enough to know that she is attracted by the money, and when she gets tired of that, she'll be tired of me too. I don't think badly of her for that. After all, she has to think about darling little Jessica's future, and this way it is much more assured."

"You really don't know Inez very well do you? I know her enough to know that she would never go with you just for the money. If there weren't something else she would not marry you. If she were in it for the money she would have been banging Johnny. Inez is one of the best people I know and I take exception to you saying that she is a gold-digger."

Our conversation was interrupted by the sound of a door slamming. Immediately the driver was by my side drawing his pistol, as Joe and two other black men stepped through the door behind the bar with guns already drawn.